Why do sham referendums that Russia and occupational administrations organize in the newly occupied territories of Ukraine pose not only a threat to the territorial integrity of Ukraine but a civilizational challenge for the democratic institutes? How can and must the civilized world react to these events, especially voting at the barrel of a gun? What are the consequences of fake voting on the newly occupied territories for Ukraine? These were the questions the participants of OSCE Human Dimension Conference discussed on September 27 in Warsaw within the event “The threat to democracy, or How authoritarian regimes attack by using the tool of elections and referendums”, organized by Civil Network OPORA together with International Centre for Ukrainian Victory.
“On September, 21, Vladimir Putin made a statement about holding a fake vote in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Voting began 2 days after the announcement of a fake referendum by the official authorities of Russia. In 2014 Russia had already organized fake referendums in Crimea and Donbas. This ended with the annexation of the Crimean peninsula. Then the West offered only a meek response to what was then the most significant violation of European borders since WWII. At the time, international institutions and Western leaders confined themselves to public expressions of concern. These days the reaction to fake referendums in occupied regions cannot be as weak as in 2014,” Olga Aivazovska, Head of Board of Civil Network OPORA and co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory said. “This is a huge threat to the democratic standards in OSCE region since authoritarian regimes use the forms of direct democracy for implementation of their imperious plans.”
Pseudo-referendums are totally null and void from the legal point of view. The fake referendum has no signs of a free and legal process. They will not be recognized in civilized countries.
The invoted gueat of the event Harald Hartvig Jepsen, International Senior Adviser, IFES Ukraine, noted, “Only Central Election Commission of Ukraine can hold a referendum in Ukraine.” He emphasized that by organizing a fake voting, Russian Federation had violated a range of international standards. In particular, the 1945 UN Charter co-signed by Russia forbids the use of force against the territorial integrity or independence of another state. The 1949 Geneva Convention (IV) and 1958 authoritative comments state that an occupying power cannot change the status or annex territory of another state when hostilities are ongoing and that a decision on the status of occupied territories can be settled only as a result of peace negotiation after hostilities have ended. Therefore, the results of the current pseudo-referendums on the status of occupied territories of Ukraine are illegitimate and bear no legal consequences.
What can the international community do? According to Harald Hartvig Jepsen, these illegal and criminal Russian actions have already received broad and cockered international condemnation. Luckily, Serbia has ruled out recognition of pseudo-referendums. Moreover, we are currently waiting for the UN Security Council Resolution — how many states will vote in favor. That is why further isolation and economic sanction against Russia must currently be the most important answer.
“Also, sham referendums still create new challenges for civilians and for the government of Ukraine,” Olga Aivazovska said. According to the expert in the election and electoral law, firstly, it is necessary to admit that the voting takes place under the pressure of armed soldiers of the Russian army, who go to the apartments of citizens and force them to vote at home, choosing between ticking boxes on fake ballots and their lives. Secondly, simultaneously with the voting, the collection of personal data of citizens, assessment of their ability to resist the occupying authorities and intimidation takes place. Thirdly, fake referendums in the occupied territories will intensify the persecution of Ukrainians, and lead to new murder, torture, forced mobilization of Ukrainian citizens to the Military Forces of the Russian Federation, and other forms of violence and violation of the law of waging war.
The most difficult challenge is that after the imitation of the voting and illegal annexation, Russia plans to declare these territories under its jurisdiction. Accordingly, any counter-aggressive actions of Ukraine will be considered an attack on the territory of Russia. Ukrainians in uncontrolled territories, where Russians hold their sham voting, can obtain Russian passports and be mobilized to the army. This, in turn, will make the Russian propagandistic narrative about alleged civil war in Ukraine stronger.
Civil Network OPORA strongly condemns the initiation and holding of such annexationist referendums. These actions of the aggressor pose yet another threat to global security and to the international legal order. The determination of the West will define the fate of Ukrainians in the occupied territories, the existence of Ukraine as an independent and sovereign state, stability and peace in Europe, and the preservation of the system of international relations as a whole.
“Additional measures to further isolate Russia from the international community could include expulsion from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and recognizing Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. These sham referendums should also trigger a long overdue discussion on Russia’s permanent seat on the UN Security Council,” Olga Aivazovska summed up.
OPORA's Statement on Intensification of the Activities on Conducting the Illegal Referendums in the Occupied Territories
